Space News & Blog Articles

What new methods can be employed to help astronomers distinguish the light from an exoplanet and its host star so the former’s atmosphere can be better explored? This is what a recent study accepted to Astronomy & Astrophysics hopes to address as an international team of researchers investigated how a novel and proposed telescopic instrument that could be capable of characterizing exoplanet atmospheres in new and exciting ways. This study has the potential to help scientists develop novel tools for examining exoplanets and whether they could possess life as we know it, or even as we don’t know it.

Type 1a supernovae are used as standard candles in the cosmic distance ladder. These energetic explosions occur when a white dwarf, an extremely dense stellar remnant, is in a binary pair with another star. The companion could be anything from a main sequence star like our Sun, to a red giant, even another white dwarf.

NASA is preparing to send crewed missions to the Moon for the first time since the end of the Apollo Era over fifty years ago. With the success of Artemis I, which sent an uncrewed Orion spacecraft on a circumlunar flight and set a new distance record for a crew-capable spacecraft, NASA is gearing up for Artemis II. This mission, which NASA is now targeting for no sooner than February 5th, 2026 (and no later than April), will transport a four-person crew around the Moon without landing and return them home ten days later. The announcement was made during a news conference on September 23rd at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC).

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has provided stunning views using its sophisticated suite of infrared instruments and spectrometers. The latest images reveal numerous impressive features in the Sagittarius B2 molecular cloud, the most massive and active star-forming region in the Milky Way. By combining data from its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) and Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), Webb captured Sgr B2 in multiple wavelengths, providing a contrasting view that showcases its massive stars and glowing cosmic dust in unprecedented detail.

What can auroras on a rogue planet teach astronomers about planetary formation and evolution? This is what a recent study published in Astronomy & Astrophysics hopes to address as an international team of researchers investigated the atmospheric composition of a nearby rogue planet, including its atmospheric temperature and auroras. This study has the potential to help astronomers better understand rogue planets, along with additional planetary atmospheric formation and evolutionary traits.

Mars, often called the Red Planet due to its rusty iron oxide covered surface, is Earth's smaller, colder neighbour. Orbiting the Sun at an average distance of 228 million kilometres, Mars shares remarkable similarities with Earth; a 24.6 hour day, polar ice caps, seasons driven by a 25.2 degree axial tilt, and evidence of ancient rivers and lakes that once flowed across its surface. Yet Mars today is a harsh world with a thin atmosphere just 1% the density of Earth's, average temperatures of -63°C, and no liquid water on its surface. It has an incredibly thin atmosphere composed primarily of carbon dioxide (95%) which is so tenuous that liquid water cannot exist on the surface, yet it’s still thick enough to generate global dust storms.

The search for extraterrestrial life may soon get a revolutionary new tool which is no bigger than a soft drink can. A team of Dutch scientists are developing the (Origin of) Life Marker Chip (LMCOOL), a device that could detect signs of life on distant worlds. The LMCOOL is best described as a tiny yet complete laboratory in the form of a computer chip. This device is being developed by a Dutch consortium led by TU Delft, with researcher Jurriaan Huskens and his team working to make the optical sensor particularly sensitive for the required biomarkers.

Tumbleweeds offer iconic visual depictions of desolate landscapes. Though typically associated with the American West, the most common type of tumbleweed actually originated in Europe, and is known scientifically as salsola targus, or more commonly as Russian thistle. So its only fitting that a team led by European scientists has some up with an idea based on the tumbleweed’s unique properties that could one day have groups of them exploring Mars.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed some amazing things about the Universe. From the earliest galaxies and planet-forming disks to characterizing exoplanet atmospheres, there is virtually no corner of the cosmos that Webb has not observed in extremely high resolution. This includes the Solar System, where Webb has used its sophisticated infrared instruments and spectrometers to provide the most detailed images ever taken of Jupiter, Saturn, the ice giants, and smaller objects like Dimorphos and the latest cosmic interloper detected, 3I/ATLAS.